Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Under the Teaching Council Acts 2001 to 2015, the Teaching Council appoints the director. The legislation requires the council to obtain the consent of the Minister for the procedures the council proposes to apply. In addition, the Ministers for Education and Skills and Public Expenditure and Reform must give their consent to the contractual terms and conditions of the director.

The Teaching Council, in advance of the expiry of the five-year term of office of the director, communicated to my Department in December its intention to reappoint the incumbent director and sought my consent for the procedures it proposed to use to make the appointment. The council later brought to the attention of my Department an issue regarding the contractual arrangements and at one point rescinded its original decision to reappoint the director due to perceived potential contractual difficulties. However, I consented to the procedures and my Department clarified the contractual terms, which provide for a fixed-term contract in the context of the continuation of a secondment arrangement. Following its meeting on 8 May, the council offered a new contract to the director, the terms of which were agreed by my Department with the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform.

The Deputy may wish to note that the reappointment of a chief executive or director of a public body for a second term is consistent with Government policy applying to public bodies generally.

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